The Rays said Longoria's new contract incorporates the salaries for the 2013-16 seasons and extends six more years through 2022 for an additional $100 million.

Longoria, the 2008 AL Rookie of the Year and two-time Gold Glove winner, hit .289 in 2012, posting 55 RBI and 17 home runs.

And in extending his contract, the Rays and Longoria truly achieve a win-win.

For Longoria, it adds a nice chunk of guaranteed money to what had become a one-sided team-friendly deal. Longoria had been a big leaguer for exactly a week when he signed a six-year, $17.5 million deal, a nice chunk of guaranteed money for a player who had just 23 major league at bats.

But Longoria soon out-performed that deal, earning All-Star nods each of his first three seasons.

What's more, the Rays, as is their custom, held club options for 2014, '15 and '16 at a mere $30 million, a sum that looked all the more paltry as baseball's revenues - and salaries - skyrocketed.

So this extension ensures Longoria will be compensated in the future at a level more commensurate with his performance, but also adds seven more seasons of club control, as the Rays hold a club option for 2023.

Now, Longoria effectively has a 10-year, $136 million deal. While that's still decidedly below market, it guarantees him a princely sum while he's still just 27 years old.

In a March interview with USA TODAY Sports' Paul White, Longoria claimed that his below-market deal did not bother him.

"I've never regretted it for one day," he said of not waiting for what would have been a much bigger payday by going year-to-year, and then testing free agency. "It would be like somebody putting the winning lottery ticket in your hand, and you say I might have a chance to win it eight years later, so hold off."

Indeed, Longoria has embraced his life in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and his status as the face of a franchise eternally in flux.

Longoria, who is dating Playboy playmate Jaime Edmondson, also augments his income via several endorsements and has established himself as one of the game's most recognizable stars, despite the fact he plays for one of its most low-revenue franchises.

That franchise just gained a modicum of stability in furthering its relationship with Longoria.

As reigning Cy Young Award winner David Price tweeted at Longoria today: "happy to see you get paid...I'm sure it feels great!!!."